Khilafat movement should be about unity, says Sharad Pawar

The Khilafat movement should always be seen as a movement for unity, said a panel of eminent speakers while participating in an Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi rally from the landmark Khilafat House in Byculla. The rally had started 99 years ago, when Mahatma Gandhi participated in it as a show of unity towards Muslims.

Wednesday's meeting was attended by leaders of various political parties, with Sharad Pawar the chief guest. Other invitees included Giani Harpreet Singhji, the Jathedar of Akal Takht, and Hazrat Allama Mohammad Faroghul Quadri, secretary general of The World Islamic Mission, Glasgow, England who led the Eid procession.

"The Khilafat movement should be seen as one for unity. When Gandhiji joined the movement, many people wrote against him. However, he always felt that distance should be removed and unity should be present. This is an important function," Pawar said.

Speakers said that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's message on the Partition should be remembered. "He had said that the country will not get divided into two, but three parts. He had the foresight to see that," said Sarfaraz Arzu, the acting chairman of the All India Khilafat Committee, which organised the program and the march.